Week 28 - the illegal Barbeque

Two interesting Italian laws I have learned over the course of my time here:

1. If someone is breaking into your home, you can only defend yourself with an equal amount of violence that they are using to rob you. For example, if a man breaks into an old woman's house without any weapon besides his fists, the old woman is expected to fist fight said man in order to defend the house.

2. ‎Barbequing is illegal in public parks UNLESS you can extinguish the flame before the Carabinieri get off of their pranzo break.

I learned this last one at our ward party this week. We had a big barbeque for Italy's liberation day, and it was amazing. Our potentials and investigators came, and we talked with the families next to us and picked up some solid new potentials. Nearly all of Alessandrino was in the park laughing and talking and cooking. It was practically filled with smoke. After most people had put out their flames, we just kept the party going and at the very end of the afternoon were approached by the Carabinieri who basically said "how irresponsible of you, it is OBVIOUSLY illegal to cook in the park." Hmm. Interesting. An Italian member leaned over and told us "it's only illegal now because that officer is done with his own barbeque at a different park."

This week we said goodbye Rashid, our cherry explosion dealer, who is moving work to a store outside our area. We may or may not visit his store everyday to buy 10 cent cherry explosions, but that's really not the important part of the story. Basically, we make a fair amount of visits on our way to the Metro A line. Anyway, he ended up introducing us to his boss, who introduced us to his friend Connie who is now a potential. It was very interesting to see how Heavenly Father turned our slightly unhealthy candy addiction into a miracle. Sed His hand in everything has been one of my favorite parts of my mission.

The coolest part of this week was the pass of lesson we had with the Anziani. They were approached by a woman on the metro, who ASKED THEM to come over and teach her. (For those who don't know, that. never. happens.) So they taught her the restoratiom a week ago, and then passed her off to us because she's a single woman. When we went over for the pass off lesson, she had already read 100 pages and had sticky notes in various places with questions written on them. She is golden. We taught the plan of salvation and said she couldn't come to church this week, but has already written us in her schedule for next week!!

My spiritual thought this week is the talk is from the talk The First and Great Commandment, October 2012. We all know it. Love God. The thing I love about this talk is that it explains what that means. By really and truly loving God, we will change our thoughts, actions, and eventually, our whole soul. We will try to serve Him more. We will love His children, and love ourselves as His child. The amount of love that He has for us is incomprehensible. He provided a plan where not only we will be saved, but where we will become better and happier people. We are so blessed. And all of those blessings lead directly back to Him.

I love this gospel so much, and I'm so grateful for this time I have to dedicate my life to Heavenly Father's service.

Love and miss you all
Sorella Maxfield

Week 27 - Speaking in southern accents

And we ain't stoppin any time soon.
I'm not quite sure how it started, but for the past 7 days, we have been speaking in either Italian, or with a southern accent. It's become so normal, I accidentally let it slip out while I was on scambio with the STL.

Today for Pday we explored the city of Tivoli, and it is the most gorgeous city I have ever seen. There were Greek Temples, Cathedrals, waterfalls, Roman arches and aquaducts, and little turquoise lakes and grottos. Basically, if anyone would like to move there with me, please email me. We deemed it the most Italian city there is. Picture this; we were walking down a tiny cobble stone street, with laundry and flowers hanging from the windows and a Madonna shrine built into the wall, as a tiny old nun woman driving a small green fiat flies down the road like a speeding bullet, almost taking out all three of us. 

Some more quick trio adventures of the week:
1. Sorella James running down the upwards escalator to talk to a man who said the word "Mormons". Basically, we'll take what ever we can get as a conversation starter.
2. ‎trying "pretend to be practicing for a musical number in church, but actually just singing hymns and talking with the people who listened" finding.

3. Eating carbonara with a spatula because all three of our spoons were dirty, and when it comes to hot carbonara, you don't have time to be washing a spoon.

4. ‎having a random man overhear a failed finding attempt, then tell us that he was interested in the things we were saying. Amazing.

This week we had some excellent lessons and some cool finding miracles!

The first lesson we had was with a mother of an RM in our ward. We taught the lesson in English, which was an interesting change from lessons in Italian, and a little hard to adjust to. But the spirit was so strong. We talked about the plan of salvation, and when we discussed Christ's Atonement and how critical it is to the plan, I felt the truth of that statement in my heart. It was so cool to have that teaching opportunity, teaching is my favorite part of the mission.

I also had such a cool finding experience while on scambio in Ladispoli. (S/O to Sorella Barnes. You're city is just as beautiful as ever. The apartment is a twenty second walk to the beach. Some people are very blessed) Sorella Wyatt and I had talked earlier about how we wanted to incorporate the scriptures into our finding, and I chose Alma 32:27 as the verse I wanted to share. So we did a role play. My least favorite thing. I always just feel so awkward playing pretend with my companions and acting out possible situations. BUT. about an hour later, I stopped a girl with blue hair, and we HAD THE EXACT CONVERSATION THAT WE HAD PRACTICED EARLIER. Nearly word for word. Except for the end where she invited us to go to a cafe with her and we taught her about the book of Mormon and now she's a new investigator. 

I want to invite you all to read Psalm 46:10, I don't know why, but this scripture just continues to run through my head.

I love you all, and I love this opportunity I have to be a missionary.
Sorella Maxfield

Week 26 - How to Clean a House 101

We've survived one week of trio life! It's been different, but overall it's been fun. My two new companions are Sorella James and Sorella Nelson. Sorella James is from Washington, worked at festivals making funnel cakes and enjoys occasionally speaking in a southern accent. Sorella Nelson is from Provo, and plans on studying nursing but also wants a side job as a car mechanic. They're adorable and it has been so much fun living and working with the both of them.

During our first weekly planning together we received 2 referrals, which is about as rare as finding an Italian kitchen without olive oil. It was a real blessing because finding as a trio is not exactly ideal. Anyway, we went to visit one of these referrals who the Rome 1 Anziani helped move early that morning. She bought an apartment by our church, so we went over to see how we could help. It was apparent that the Anziani had no experience as movers. We offered to come over and help her clean things the next day before the workers came to mount her cabinets. Before leaving, we asked if there were any cleaning supplies we should bring, but she assured us that she had everything. 

The next day we walked in ready to work! I was assigned to the bedroom tile floors, which I felt pretty qualified to do (thanks mom for teaching me how to clean grout with a toothbrush). So this woman handed me a broom, a bucket full of hot water, and said "okay, now pour the water on the ground." Thinking I misunderstood, I set the bucket down and started to put the broom into the water. But She grabbed the bucket and then proceeded to dump nearly three gallons of water all over her floor and told me to start scrubbing. So while I'm trying to scrub the now flooded bedroom with a broom, the other Sorelle are in the kitchen scrubbing down the walls with hot water. We were not permitted to use any soap or cleaner, although she had several grocery bags full. The service project ended two hours later, with the other still be asked to scrub the same wall, and me in the bedroom using only a broom and dustpan to try to sweep up the water from the ground.

The work and members in Rome 3 are awesome. We've got a functioning ward here, complete with a young womens, AND a real primary. (I spent the last hour of church with the primary kids as the pianist, and by the end I could feel myself getting grey hairs. At one point every single child was jumping on the table making cat noises while the primary president was just trying to continue the lesson like normal.) We had two awesome talks from our senior couples, one about repentance and one about tithing. I actually found the talk on tithing really beautiful. He talked about how tithing is both a form of gratitude for all that we've been given and a way to remind us that the things we are blessed with, aren't really ours. Heavenly Father gives us everything, including jobs and money, so it's not right for us to become possessive over our money.

We also had an amazing zone conference this week. President and Sorella Pickerd talked about faith, and asked us to come prepared with a person from the Book of Mormon who was an example of faith. I chose Alma, father of alma the younger. His story is such an amazing story of change through faith. He felt something while listening to the preachings of Abinadi, and had enough faith to leave his high position and flee to the wilderness, all to follow God's plan. His whole character changed, and through him, thousands of lives were changed, all because he had a strong enough faith. I would love to invite you all to study his story and how he was able to grow his faith.

I love and miss you all!
Sorella Maxfield 

Week 25 - And then there were 4...wait no, actually 3

Transfers happened. I can safely say that I received the most unexpected transfer call. Here's the list of things I was told during my transfer call. 

1. I would be LEAVING Battipaglia (meaning two new sisters would be coming in to take over our work) and going to ROME 3. Yes. Rome. The ginormous city that I now have to learn how to navigate. 

2. ‎My new companion would be Sorella Capicchioni. (The cutest Italian ever)

3. ‎She'll be starting her 2nd transfer. (So I'm maybe kind of half training and collectively we have a total of 4 transfers of experience) BUT

4. ‎Her real mission is actually Boston, so at any point during this transfer she could leave, meaning I would be put in a trio.

5. ‎Also we would blowing open a new area for sisters. Woohoo. Finding for dayzzzz.

    It would be a major understatement to say that I freaked out. The next two days were filled  with frantic goodbyes, packing, and making a list of everything the new Sorelle needed to know about the city. All with Sorella Ellison, who's proselyting area is actually Pozzuoli. She's a sweetheart.

    ‎Saying goodbye to Battipaglia was really hard. I love the members there and I love to people I was teaching. But it was interesting to have a bit of reflection as to how I've changed since arriving there. I know a bit more about what it means to be a missionary, but probably the greatest way I've changed is coming to know my Savior better. I studied His life, talked about His teachings, and applied His Atonement. I have so much more to learn, more than I can comprehend, but just from these past couple months, I've become a different person. I love it.

    ‎I met Sorella Capicchioni on Thursday, along with the other two Rome 3 Sorelle, Sorella James and Sorella Nelson. We hauled our luggage across Rome, through the metro, and on a bus until we finally arrived at our home! Unlike Battipaglia, the hot water consistently, and there are two bathrooms. On the down side, there's only one bedroom, so all four of our beds are lined up one right next to another. I've woken up several times this week with some ones leg sprawled on my bed or a rogue arm on my head, but for the most part it's just like a giant sleepover. 

    ‎After one day together, Sorella Capicchioni received news that her visa was done and ready to be picked up! We called president to tell him the news, and he said "great! We'll fly you out to Boston on Tuesday, how does that sound?" So, sadly, Sorella Capicchioni and I have had only five days as companions. Tonight she will leave to sleep over at the Villa, and I will be in a trio! I'm pretty sure this is all because I talked about how difficult trio finding is, so now I need to figure out how to make it work. I'm excited for the adventure. 

    ‎So there's the news, I'm in Rome 3, my companion leaves to Boston tomorrow morning, and I will be in a trio! The past couple days have been insanely stressful, and have made me think several times "wait. I chose to do this??" But always in the end, I realize what a fulfilling experience I have had thus far on my mission. I wouldn't trade it for anything. For anyone one the fence about going, GO. You will grow co close to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I know that they love us. They're here to help us through every trial and hardship. His "arm is lengthened out all the day long."

    ‎I love and miss you all so much!

Sorella Maxfield 

Week 24 - Arrivederci Sorella Mia

This week has been all over the place. We were thrown into a trio, Sorella Barnes heads home to Utah tomorrow, we're receiving our transfer calls tonight, and somehow the weather has changed from freezing cold to burning hot all within a week.

We started out the week with a scambio in Pozzuoli. I was companions with Sorella McDonald for a day and she had planned a meeting with a new convert. This new convert lives a 50 minute bus ride from Pozzuoli, so we went straight to the bus stop once we switch companions. In proper southern Italian style, the bus came ninety minutes late and packed with people. After thirty minutes of being squished on all sides, a fight broke out between two women because one woman refused to let the other pass by. Then after the fight stopped, an man got on the bus and gave a twenty minute sermon. It was probably the most interesting bus ride of my life.

Two days later, we got a call from the Sorelle in Pozzuoli saying that Sorella McDonald was being transferred to Malta. So after two days of frantic packing, we sent her off, and Sorella Ellison came to be in a trio with us! Then we had another day of frantic packing, this time for Sorella Barnes. It was bittersweet to watch her go. I learned so many lessons from her about being a hardworking missionary and being a kinder, more charitable person.

My spiritual thought this week was prompted by the crazy, slightly stressful events of this week. I found myself becoming anxious and upset over the little frustrations this week. The rejections seemed to be harder, our investigators couldn't meet with us, and we had a huge list of things to get done. I went to bed stressed out and I woke up feeling the same way. Then, while talking with Sorella Barnes, she mentioned how she was apprehensive about going home because there were so many things she couldn't control. She described as "doing a trust fall with Heavenly Father." In a way, I felt that was true of many of the things that had been happening. We can't control everything in our lives and lots of times it feels like we're mid-trust fall,  without anyone to catch us. But He's always there, and will always. always. catch us. Our stresses and fears and worries won't always be taken away, but we can know that He'll be there guiding our lives and helping us grow in ways we can't imagine.

This spiritual thought is a little all over the place, so I just want to wrap it up with two of my favorite scriptures. Both of these being my comfort in my stresses and help me look at them with a greater perspective.
D&C 121:7-9 - 7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.
9 Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.

Psalms 46:10 - Be still, and know that I am God:

I love you all so much!
Sorella Maxfield